Lighting Q... t5 vs PC

[Brooks_McClary]

I currently have a 20 high tank with a coralife 130w PC light on it.

I have been looking at the Nova Extreme T-5 Fixtures w/Lunar Lights. The 24" fixture appears to have 4 24w T5s for a total of 96w.

Has anyone compared the two lights side by side? I hear that the T5s have higher output and penitration for an equal wattage. would it be worth while to convert to T5s?

I have also heard that the T5 lights last much longer than the PC lights and need to be replaced much less frequently.

I am looking to hear from anyone that has real life experience with these two lights.

[Brooks_McClary]

As an add on to this... Has anyone had luck with SPS corals under PC lighting? With my set up I have 6.5w per gal. I have a nice spot about 8" away from the lights to put a SPS frag. I have been looking at the Acropora Sp. Are there any Acropora that are better under lower light (not MH).

[calvin415]

I've had PC's, T-5's, and now MH. T-5's are much better than PC's for light, and energy savings, and better than MH for energy savings and temperature. However I've still upgraded to MH and probably won't go back... Bulb replacement for T-5's while it doesn't need to be done as often as PC's it still cost a bit when you have to replace 4-8 bulbs... Yes there are some SPS that do fine under T-5's but do you want to have lots of bulbs over your tank or just one? For the cost of a T-5 setup, you can get a MH setup (in most cases) and lower your bulb replacement costs plus have any coral you want...

If you are set on going with T-5's though here's a great example of what can be done. :)

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php

[surfnvb7]

I used to have the exact same setup as you for half a year (20g high, w/ 130w coralife PC). I grew a couple of sps with no problems on that light (kept them pretty high), but probably grew slow comparatively to a MH.

But I eventually replaced it w/ a MH, SE mogul socket. At first, I ran 1, and loved it a ton compared to the PC. Now I run 2 over the 20g just for the heck of it cuz I had an extra. Things grow great (sps, clams etc.), and the color is amazing....just gota watch out for heat problems. Much easier to deal with if you have air conditioning. I also hear that DE bulbs put out less heat, but the setups are more expensive.

MH is the way to go no matter what. And its much easier to upgrade a tank and buy another SE mogul socket or whatever than an entire new hood and bulbs for PC's/T5's.

Its also probably cheaper to just buy a retro MH kit from hellolights than a new PC/T5 hood. http://www.hellolights.com/arocu17rekit.html
Looks like all XM bulbs are on sale too, for $20!!! Damn!!! Thats a good deal for a MH setup, they were $65 back when I got mine last May.

Just get some cuts of wood and make your own hood. PM if you want to see some pics of the thing I threw together in a couple min. Not a work of art, but quite functional.

[trottman]

T5's are ,uch better thank pc's. It is like the difference between Flourescent NO lighting and Flourescent VHO lighting.

I dont think sps can be kept in a 20 gallon tank with only 96 watts though. I have 96 watts(same light) on my 10 gallon with sps and they are doin ok.